Road safety and security issues among urban cyclists and non-cyclists

Abstract

Bicycle use varies from 7% to 15% in large cities to 13–21% in medium and small cities in India. It is observed that cyclists are involved in 5–10% of total road related deaths in medium and large cities. The focus of the paper is to highlight differences and similarities in safety among bicycle users and non-users especially among students and low income workers.This study compares three surveys in Delhi, Pune city and Noida city. About 1500–2000 respondents were interviewed in each city (distributed among students, parents and low income urban workers) and specific questions related to safety and security were asked. Among students, bicycle use varies from 26% to 33% and among poor workers it varies from 75% to 80%.It was observed that 29% users met with an accident some time or the other while cycling, mostly by M2W and cars, sustaining injuries in one-third of the cases. Among those who use bicycle, 91% identified fear of accident as one of the problems of using bicycle. Though most of the people lock their bicycles, bicycles of 48% people still had been stolen some time in the past, mostly from work place.As the income and other captive making constraints improve, bicycle riders upgrade themselves to motorised transport due to growing unsafe traffic conditions. These insights can be useful in planning and design strategies to attract the large potential of short trips and convert them in regular bicycle trips.